All photography by Heather Glazzard
Londonâs trans community and their allies turned up in their droves for Trans+ Pride this Saturday, with more than three times as many protesters attending compared to last yearâs inaugural event. A 5,000-strong crowd gathered for the socially distanced occasion, marching from Wellington Arch through central London to protest the continued marginalisation of trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming people in the UK, before congregating at Parliament Square to demand answers and action from the government.While Londonâs mainstream Pride events might be more parties than protests these days, those at Trans+ Pride had plenty to say. Top of the agenda was progressive reform of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA), after the government missed its own deadline for responding to 2018âs GRA public consultation. Meanwhile, the rights of transgender youth to access healthcare and surgery are increasingly under threat, with Equalities Minister Liz Truss commenting in April that under-18s should be âprotected from decisions⊠that are irreversible in the futureâ.With the Black Lives Matter movement gathering pace over the summer, and transgender hate crimes on the rise in the UK, Trans+ Prideâs organisers also demanded an end to violence against Black trans women. Speakers paid emotional tributes to their friend Elie Che, a trans model and community leader who had recently moved from London to New York, and was found dead in the Bronx last month at the age of 23.Organisers made sure that the event followed COVID guidelines throughout, dispensing masks and hand sanitiser to the crowd, but police soon threatened those on stage with a ÂŁ10,000 fine for organising a gathering of more than 30 people, forcing it to end earlier than planned.At such a pivotal time for trans rights in the UK, Londonâs second Trans+ Pride had a sense of urgency. A few attendees shared why they thought it was important to show up.âIâm here because transgender and non-binary people still donât have the rights we deserve. It might seem like things are changing for the better for us, but while there might be a bit more visibility and a few more gender neutral restrooms in certain places, I feel like where it counts, in politics, things are getting worse â and I think theyâll probably continue to get worse before they get better. âWe need to be protected in law, and it shouldnât be so difficult to have your gender on documents. So thatâs why Iâm here. I think one of the only ways to really get what we need is to show up and protest.â â AtrixâI came down today because the landscape for trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary people around the world is totally unacceptable. Just this year weâve seen the GRA plans scrapped, so many Black trans people have been murdered in the US, Hungary has passed a bill that means trans people can't even self-identify as their real gender anymore, and thatâs just the tip of the iceberg.â â PrishitaâThe last year has been really confusing for trans people. We've been waiting for answers from the government after the GRA consultation, and we didn't get the answers that we should have got. We all put our voices out there and wanted to be listened to, and I don't think we have been, so thatâs why weâre here, to try and get them to listen to us. âIâve got a big queer family that I want to be here to represent, and I thought it was important to be here today, to be together, to stand up for our rights, and to be with all my trans siblings.â â PaddyâI thought it was important to show up today because trans people need to be visible. We need to show that weâre a strong community and stand up for ourselves. I believe we need to be loud and vocal, so our needs are taken note of, as well as just being more inclusive with each other, because thereâs strength in numbers, and the common thing we share is our trans experience. âI think a lot of people fear transness, so they like to put us down or shun us so that we donât have a voice. We need to show that weâre here, we matter and weâre fabulous, incredible beings. Embrace us, because thereâs a lot you can learn from us.â â ConnâTheyâre hurting future generations by not allowing us freedomââIâve been showing up for every Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Lives protest, but the reason Iâm here today is that the government was supposed to reform the GRA and they havenât â and the prospects for trans rights in the future now seem definitely worse. Recently, they were talking about removing access to support for trans youth up to the age of 18, so Iâm here to make sure that the younger generation donât get fucked over.â â Rex.âItâs about protecting trans kids. If I had known I was trans from an earlier age, I would have saved myself so many years of being miserable and not knowing why. Telling kids that they're wrong, and that what they're feeling isn't right because they're too young to feel it, is bullshit. Theyâre hurting future generations by not allowing them that freedom.â â Theo.âIt's important to have Trans Pride not only to celebrate and show that we're here for each other and that we love each other, but to stand against transphobic legislation and to send a message to the government that weâre here to fight back and we wonât take it lying down.âThings are getting significantly worse for trans people here in the UK. For a start, the average waiting time to get your first appointment at the Gender Identity Clinic is something like three-and-a-half years now, compared to the 18-week average for the NHS overall, so even getting basic healthcare is so hard. âMeanwhile, the rhetoric that JK Rowling and all of her followers are putting forward is that they're dishing out hormones left, right and centre â and it's just not the case. The whole Gender Clinic system needs to be better funded and actually run by queer or trans people, so that trans people get the support we need, rather than being made to feel like thereâs something wrong with us.â â XoeyâI think we need Trans Pride to highlight that our community needs solidarity and compassion. This year there's been a lot of active and aggressive oppression from our government. âWe've had the threat of our under-18s being stopped from having access to medical help or surgeries, and we've also had unfortunately the communication that we will not be able to self identify our gender [one of the aims of GRA reform]. The Tory government is hiding behind the guise that they are here for our rights, that they're here to support our youth, when in actual fact theyâre leaving so many questions unanswered.âWe were promised in 2018 that we would see reform of the GRA, but Liz Truss made it very clear back in April that she wouldnât be here for trans views. Thereâs a hatred of our community, and itâs fuelled by fear and scapegoating. Weâre seen as predators, or as psychopaths, when in reality weâre the most compassionate and loving community there is.â â Alexis.âI'm here to show support and solidarity to our trans siblings. There are so many things from the past that are holding trans people back, and a lot needs to change. The Gender Recognition Act should have been amended years ago, and I think thatâs the first thing that needs to happen urgently. I think there are elements of society that are becoming more understanding, but in general we really need more inclusivity. And we need more Gender Clinics. Iâm from Manchester, and thereâs a high population of trans people there, so realistically we need one set up there. I want everyone to know that weâre not just here for ourselves, weâre here for the queer community because we need to win this fight.â â Jess.âTrans Pride is really important, because we have an Equalities Minister who doesnât care about trans people and our equality. We need a progressive reform of the GRA, we need to fight for an end to violence against trans people, especially Black trans women, and we need to see an end to mutilation of intersex children at birth and to give non-binary people the right to legally identify themselves.âFrom the outside it might look like things are getting better because we have more visibility within the media, but actually weâre suffering just as hard. Thereâs such hysteria that trans people are predators. Itâs a fantasy and a fairytale, and people who think that have probably never actually met a trans person.â â Lewis.@rohew / @heatherglazzard
Advertisement
Advertisement
âOne of the only ways to get what we need is to show up and protestâ
âTransphobia has been allowed to run rampant in societyâ
âThe last year has been really confusing for trans peopleâ
Advertisement
âWeâre here, we matter and weâre fabulous, incredible beingsâ
Advertisement
âWe need to stand against transphobic legislationâ
Advertisement
âIn reality, weâre the most compassionate and loving community there isâ
âThe Gender Recognition Act should have been amended years agoâ
Advertisement